TW201839537A - Plasma abatement technology utilizing water vapor and oxygen reagent - Google Patents

Abstract

Implementations of the present disclosure relate to systems and techniques for abating F-gases present in the effluent of semiconductor manufacturing processes. In one implementation, a water and oxygen delivery system for a plasma abatement system is provided. The water and oxygen delivery system comprises a housing that includes a floor and a plurality of sidewalls that define an enclosed region. The water and oxygen delivery system further comprises a cylindrical water tank positioned on the floor, wherein a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical water tank is parallel to a plane defined by the floor and a length of the water tank is 1.5 times or greater than the diameter of the cylindrical water tank. The water and oxygen delivery system further comprises a flow control system positioned within the housing above the cylindrical water tank.

Description

Plasma reduction technology using water vapor and oxygen reagent

Generally speaking, embodiments of the present disclosure are related to decrementing for semiconductor processing equipment. More specifically, the embodiments of the present disclosure and fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) (e.g., hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons) present in the effluent of semiconductor manufacturing processes was (perfluorocarbons; PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF ₆₎₎ systems and technologies related reductions.

The effluent generated during the semiconductor manufacturing process includes many compounds, which are reduced or disposed of before disposal due to regulatory requirements and environmental and safety considerations. Among these compounds are F-gases and halogen-containing compounds which can be used, for example, in etching or cleaning processes.

F-gases, such as CF ₄ , C ₂ F ₆ , NF ₃ and SF ₆ , are commonly used in the semiconductor and flat display manufacturing industries, for example, in dielectric layer etching and chamber cleaning. After the manufacturing or cleaning process, the effluent gas stream drawn from the process tool typically has a residual F-gas content. It is difficult to remove F-gas from the effluent stream, and because F-gas is known to have a relatively high greenhouse activity, it is not desirable to release F-gas to the environment. Remote plasma source (RPS) or in-line plasma source (IPS) has been used for the reduction of F-gas and other global warming gases.

Current reduction technologies for reducing F-gas are designed using only water vapor. Water vapor provides excellent ability to destroy F-gas, but in some applications, solid particles are generated in plasma lines and discharge lines and pumps downstream of the plasma source. Therefore, there is a need for an improved reduction process.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are generally related to decrementing for semiconductor processing equipment. More specifically, embodiments of the present disclosure are related to systems and techniques for reducing the amount of F-gas present in the effluent of a semiconductor manufacturing process. In one embodiment, a water and oxygen delivery system for a plasma reduction system is provided. The water and oxygen delivery system may include a housing, and the housing may include a bottom plate and a plurality of side walls, and the bottom plate and the plurality of side walls define a closed area. The water and oxygen delivery system may further include a cylindrical water tank, and the water tank may be disposed on the bottom plate, wherein the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical water tank is parallel to the plane defined by the bottom plate, and the length of the water tank may be 1.5 times or more the diameter of the cylindrical water tank Big. The water and oxygen delivery system may further include a flow control system, and the flow control system may be disposed above the cylindrical water tank in the casing.

In another embodiment, a reduction system is provided. The reduction system may include a water and oxygen delivery system and a plasma source, and the plasma source may be coupled to the water and oxygen delivery system through a conduit. The water and oxygen delivery system may include a housing. The housing may include a bottom plate and a plurality of side walls, and the bottom plate and the plurality of side walls may define a closed area. The water and oxygen delivery system may further include a cylindrical water tank, which can be placed on the bottom plate. The longitudinal axis of the cylindrical water tank is parallel to the plane defined by the bottom plate, and the length of the water tank can be 1.5 times the diameter of the cylindrical water tank. Or greater. The water and oxygen delivery system may further include a flow control system, and the flow control system may be disposed above the cylindrical water tank in the casing.

In yet another embodiment, a vacuum processing system is provided. The vacuum processing system may include a processing chamber, a vacuum source, a foreline, and a reduction system. The foreline may couple the processing chamber and the vacuum source, and the reduction system may be connected to the processing chamber and the vacuum source. The foreline is coupled. The reduction system may include a water and oxygen delivery system and a plasma source, and the plasma source may be coupled to the water and oxygen delivery system through a conduit. The water and oxygen delivery system may include a housing. The housing may include a bottom plate and a plurality of side walls, and the bottom plate and the plurality of side walls may define a closed area. The water and oxygen delivery system may further include a cylindrical water tank, which can be placed on the bottom plate. The longitudinal axis of the cylindrical water tank is parallel to the plane defined by the bottom plate. Or greater. The water and oxygen delivery system may further include a flow control system, and the flow control system may be disposed above the cylindrical water tank in the casing.

The following disclosure describes systems and techniques for reducing the amount of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) present in the effluent of semiconductor manufacturing processes. Considerable details are set forth in the following description and Figures 1 to 4 to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. The following disclosure does not set out other details of known structures and systems often related to the reduction system and flow control hardware to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the various embodiments.

Many details, dimensions, angles, and other features shown in the drawings are merely illustrations of specific embodiments. Accordingly, other embodiments may have other details, components, dimensions, angles, and features without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, further embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented without several details described below.

The following describes the embodiment described herein with respect to the pre-extraction reduction process. The zero-footprint reduction system can be used to perform the pre-extraction reduction process. Materials Corporation's Zero Footprint Reduction System. Other tools capable of performing the pre-decrement process can also be adapted to benefit from the embodiments described herein. In addition, any system capable of implementing the pre-extraction reduction process described herein can be utilized. The devices described herein are described as illustrative and should not be construed or interpreted as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.

The embodiments disclosed herein include a plasma reduction process and system that can take out effluent from a processing chamber (such as a deposition chamber, an etching chamber, or other vacuum processing chamber) and borrow By injecting water vapor reagent and / or oxygen-containing gas into the foreline pipeline or plasma source, the effluent reacts with water vapor reagent and / or oxygen-containing gas in the plasma source, and the plasma source is placed in the foreline pipeline. . Materials present in the effluent as well as water vapor reagents and / or oxygen-containing gases can be energized by the plasma source to convert the materials into gaseous species (such as HF), which can be washed by typical water-reduction techniques Wash off easily. In some embodiments, the water vapor reagent and the oxygen-containing gas may be simultaneously injected into the foreline line or the plasma source. In some embodiments, the oxygen-containing gas may be periodically injected into the foreline line or the plasma source while the water vapor injection is temporarily stopped. By removing the hydrogen radical effluent generated by water vapor, the use of oxygen allows higher concentrations of fluorine radicals to be present to reduce or avoid the generation of solid particles. Therefore, the reduction system and process provide good destruction removal efficiency (DRE) and minimize the generation of solid particles.

The embodiments described herein further provide a module for delivering water vapor and oxygen simultaneously or sequentially. Oxygen and water vapor may be provided by a mass flow controller ("MFC"), or by an alternative technology that uses one or more needle valves for flow control. The module may include a water tank to enable water vapor to boil to supply water vapor MFC or a flow control valve. The sink can be designed in a low profile configuration to optimize the space of the combined water and oxygen delivery system. This low-profile configuration utilizes a horizontal sink that maximizes the boiling surface area. In some embodiments, the low profile configuration may further include a low profile level tree float design to allow water level measurement, but with low overall vertical height requirements.

The embodiments described herein further provide a method for transporting water vapor and oxygen within a reduction system. In some embodiments, a separate flow rate of selected water vapor (eg, X sccm) and a separate flow rate of selected oxygen (eg, Y sccm) can be established and then a "balanced" flow rate can be applied The method varies the water vapor and oxygen between them to determine the water vapor and oxygen ratio. For example, the "lean water" configuration under "25% water vapor" can be equal to a mixture of 0.25 x X + 0.75 x Y, and the "lean oxygen" setting can be 0.75 x X + 0.25 x Y, and the "balanced mixture" can be 0.5 x X + 0.5 x Y.

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of a processing system 100 according to an embodiment disclosed herein. As shown in FIG. 1, the processing system 100 may include a processing chamber 110, and the processing chamber 110 may be coupled to the reduction system 120. The processing chamber 110 may have a chamber exhaust port 104, which may be coupled to the foreline line 102 of the reduction system 120. A throttle valve (not shown) may be placed near the chamber discharge port 104 to control the pressure inside the processing chamber 110. At least one first injection port 106 and a second injection port 108 may be formed in the foreline pipeline 102. The reduction system 120 may further include a vacuum source 190, which may be coupled to the second end of the foreline line 102. The plasma source 130 may be coupled between the first injection port 106 and the vacuum source 190 in the foreline line 102.

The processing chamber 110 may be, for example, a processing chamber for performing a deposition process, an etching process, an annealing process, a cleaning process, and other processes. Representative chambers used to perform the deposition process include deposition chambers, such as, for example, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) chambers, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chambers, or physical vapor deposition ( PVD) chamber. In some embodiments, the deposition process may be a deposition process such as silicon dioxide (SiO ₂ ), silicon nitride (SiN _x ), silicon oxynitride (SiON), crystalline silicon, a-Si, doped a-Si, Fluorinated glass (FSG), phosphorus-doped glass (PSG), boron-phosphorus-doped glass (BPSG), carbon-doped glass, and other low-k dielectrics (such as polyimide and organosiloxane) Iso-dielectric deposition process. In other embodiments, the deposition process may be a deposition of a metal, metal oxide, or metal nitride (such as, for example, titanium, titanium dioxide, tungsten, tungsten nitride, tantalum, tantalum nitride, tantalum carbide, aluminum, alumina , Aluminum nitride, ruthenium or cobalt). In addition, metal alloys such as lithium oxynitride, lithium cobalt, and many other metal alloys can be deposited. The deposition process performed in the processing chamber 110 may be assisted by a plasma. For example, the process performed in the processing chamber 110 may be a plasma etching process for etching silicon-based materials. In one embodiment, the processing chamber 110 may be a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) chamber for depositing silicon-based materials.

The foreline 102 acts as a conduit for guiding the effluent out of the processing chamber 110 to the reduction system 120. The effluent may contain materials that are not expected to be released into the atmosphere or may damage downstream equipment such as vacuum pumps. For example, the effluent may contain compounds from a dielectric deposition process or from a metal deposition process.

Examples of silicon-containing materials that may be present in the effluent may include, for example, silicon tetrachloride (SiCl ₄ ) and / or silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ₄ ).

As shown, the reduction system 120 may include a plasma source 130, a reagent delivery system 140, a foreline gas injection kit 170, a controller 180, and a vacuum source 190. The foreline 102 enables the effluent to leave the processing chamber 110 and enter the plasma source 130. The plasma source 130 may be any plasma source coupled to the foreline line 102, the plasma source being adapted to generate a plasma therein. For example, the plasma source 130 may be a remote plasma source, an in-line plasma source, or other suitable plasma source for use in or near the foreline line 102. A plasma is generated to introduce reactive species into the foreline line 102. The plasma source 130 may be, for example, an inductively coupled plasma source, a capacitively coupled plasma source, a direct current plasma source, or a microwave plasma source. The plasma source 130 may further be any type of magnetically enhanced plasma source.

The reagent delivery system 140 can also be coupled to the first injection port 106 through the first conduit 122. The reagent delivery system 140 may deliver one or more reagents, such as a reduced amount of reagent, to the foreline line 102 located upstream of the plasma source 130. In an alternative embodiment, the reagent delivery system 140 may be directly coupled to the plasma source 130 to deliver reagents directly into the plasma source 130. The reagent delivery system 140 may include a first reagent source 150, and the first reagent source 150 may be coupled to the foreline line 102 (or the plasma source 130) through the first conduit 122. In some embodiments, the first reagent source 150 may be a low-pressure boiler, and a liquid reducing agent (such as liquid water) may be disposed in the low-pressure boiler. Alternatively, the first reagent source 150 may be a flash evaporator capable of converting liquid water into water vapor. The first reagent source 150 may include a heater 151 to heat water to form a reduced amount of reagent, such as water vapor or steam. The first injection port 106 can be used to inject a vapor-type reducing agent (such as water vapor) into the foreline line 102. A level sensor may be located in the reduced-reagent delivery system to provide a signal to the controller 180. The controller 180 may selectively open a fill valve (not shown) to maintain the first reagent Water level inside source 150.

The first reagent source can be coupled to the water source 156 through the third conduit 158 to supply water to the first reagent source 150. One or more valves 159 may be positioned along the third conduit 158 to control the flow of water from the water source 156 to the first reagent source 150.

One or more valves may be disposed between the first reagent source 150 and the first injection port 106 along the first conduit 122. For example, in some embodiments, the valve scheme may include a two-way control valve 152 and a flow control device 154. The two-way control valve 152 may be used as an on / off switch to control a slave valve. The first reagent source 150 enters the flow of one or more reagents in the foreline line 102, and the flow control device 154 can control the flow rate of the first reagent source 150 into the foreline line 102. The flow control device 154 may be provided between the foreline line 102 and the two-way control valve 152. The two-way control valve 152 may be any suitable control valve, such as a solenoid valve, a pneumatic valve, a needle valve, and the like. The flow control device 154 may be any suitable active or passive flow control device, such as a fixed orifice, a mass flow controller, a needle valve, and the like. In some embodiments, the heater 153 may be disposed along the first conduit to maintain the reagent supplied from the first reagent source 150 in a vapor state. In some embodiments, the heater 153 may be positioned along the first conduit 122 between the two-way control valve 152 and the first reagent source 150.

Representative volatile reduction reagents that may be delivered by the first reagent source 150 may include, for example, H ₂ O. When the effluent containing, for example, CF ₄ and / or other materials is reduced, H ₂ O can be used. In certain embodiments, volatile weight-reducing reagents can be consumed by compounds in the effluent, and therefore may not be considered catalytic.

The reagent delivery system 140 may further include a second reagent source 160, the second reagent source 160 may be coupled to the foreline line 102 (or plasma source 130) through a second conduit 124, and the second conduit 124 is coupled to the first conduit 122 Pick up. One or more valves may be positioned along the second conduit 124 between the second reagent source 160 and the first conduit 122 to control the flow of the second reagent. For example, in some embodiments, the valve structure may include a two-way control valve 162 and a flow control device 164. The two-way control valve 162 may serve as an on / off switch for controlling the power from the second reagent source. 160 flows one or more reagents into the foreline line 102, and the flow control device 164 can control the flow rate of the second reagent source 160 into the foreline line 102. The flow control device 164 may be provided between the foreline line 102 and the two-way control valve 162. The two-way control valve 162 may be any suitable control valve, such as a solenoid valve, a pneumatic valve, a needle valve, and the like. The flow control device 164 may be any suitable active or passive flow control device, such as a fixed orifice, a mass flow controller, a needle valve, and the like.

An oxygen-containing gas, such as O ₂ , may be delivered by the second reagent source 160. When reducing effluents containing, for example, CF ₄ and / or other materials, O ₂ may be used. In one or more embodiments, a hydrogen-containing gas may be used in combination with O ₂ .

The foreline line gas injection kit 170 may also be coupled to the foreline line 102 upstream or downstream of the plasma source 130 (downstream is depicted in FIG. 1). The foreline gas injection kit 170 may provide foreline gas (such as nitrogen (N ₂ ), argon (Ar), or clean dry air) into the foreline 102 in a controllable manner to control the pressure in the foreline 102. The foreline line gas injection kit 170 may include a foreline line gas source 172 and a pressure regulator 174 thereafter, further followed by a control valve 176, and even further a flow control device 178. The pressure regulator 174 may set a gas delivery pressure set point. The control valve 176 can open and close the air flow. The control valve 176 may be any suitable control valve, such as discussed above with respect to the two-way control valve 152. The flow control device 178 may provide a gas flow rate specified by a set point of the pressure regulator 174. The flow control device 178 may be any suitable flow control device, such as discussed above with respect to the flow control devices 154 and 164.

In some embodiments, the foreline gas injection kit 170 may further include a pressure gauge 179. A pressure gauge 179 may be provided between the pressure regulator 174 and the flow control device 178. The pressure gauge 179 can be used to measure the pressure in the upstream foreline gas injection kit 170 of the flow control device 178. The pressure measured at the pressure gauge 179 can be utilized by a control device (such as the controller 180 discussed below) to set the pressure upstream of the flow control device 178 by controlling the pressure regulator 174.

In some embodiments, the control valve 176 may be controlled by the controller 180 to turn on the gas flow only when the reagent from the first reagent source 150 and / or the second reagent source 160 flows to minimize the amount of gas used. For example, as shown by the dashed line between the two-way control valve 152 of the first reagent source 150 and the control valve 176 of the foreline gas injection kit 170, it can be opened in response to the opening (or closing) of the two-way control valve 152 ( (Or closed) control valve 176.

The foreline 102 may be coupled to a vacuum source 190 or other suitable pumping equipment. The vacuum source 190 may be coupled to a discharge line 192, which may be connected to a facility discharge member (not shown). The vacuum source 190 may pump the effluent from the processing chamber 110 to an appropriate downstream effluent processing equipment, such as to a scrubber, an incinerator, and the like. In some embodiments, the vacuum source 190 may be a backing pump, such as a dry mechanical pump. The vacuum source 190 may have a variable pumping capacity and may be set at a selected level, for example, to control the pressure in the foreline 102 or to provide additional control over the pressure in the foreline 102.

The controller 180 may be coupled to various components of the processing system 100 to control operations of those components. For example, the controller may monitor and / or control the foreline gas injection kit 170, the reagent delivery system 140, and / or the plasma source 130 according to the teachings disclosed herein.

For the sake of brevity, the embodiment of FIG. 1 is schematically shown, and some components are omitted. For example, a high-speed vacuum pump (such as a turbo molecular pump) may be disposed between the processing chamber 110 and the foreline line 102 to remove effluent gas from the processing chamber 110. In addition, other variants of the component are available to supply foreline gas, reagents and / or plasma.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a water and oxygen delivery device 200 according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The water and oxygen delivery device 200 is a water / oxygen delivery system, which can be used in the weight reduction system 120 described in FIG. 1. Water and oxygen delivery equipment 200 may be used in place of the reagent delivery system 140 depicted in FIG. 1. The water and oxygen delivery device 200 may include a housing 210 for enclosing components of the water and oxygen delivery device 200. The housing 210 may include a bottom plate 212, an opposite ceiling (not shown), and a plurality of side walls 214 a and 214 b to define a closed area 216. The plurality of side walls 214 a, 214 b are defined to be disposed orthogonally with respect to the bottom plate 212. The bottom plate 212 defines a horizontal plane. The housing 210 may also include an inner wall 218 extending from the bottom plate 212 to the ceiling and parallel to the side wall 214a. The sidewall 214a defines a vertical plane that is orthogonal to a horizontal plane defined by the bottom plate 212.

The water and oxygen delivery device 200 may include a water tank 220, and the water tank 220 may be disposed at a lower portion of the housing 210 or other casing. In one embodiment, the water tank 220 is disposed in a region defined by the side wall 214a, the side wall 214b, and the inner wall 218 on the bottom plate 212. A heat source (not shown) is generally coupled to the water tank 220 to heat the water in the tank to generate steam. In one embodiment, the water tank 220 has a cylindrical body 260. The cylindrical body 260 has a cylindrical side wall 262, a first wall 264, and an opposite second wall 266, and defines an enclosed portion of the water tank 220. The longitudinal axis 268 of the cylindrical body 260 is parallel to a plane defined by the bottom plate 212. The cylindrical side wall 262 is parallel to the longitudinal axis 268. In one embodiment, the first wall 264 and the second wall 266 are circular walls. In some embodiments, the first wall 264 and the second wall 266 are perpendicular to a plane defined by the bottom plate 212.

The water tank 220 has a length "L" (eg, the length of the cylindrical side wall 262) larger than a diameter "D" (eg, the diameter of the first wall 264 or the second wall 266). In one embodiment, the length "L" of the water tank 220 is 1.5 times or more the diameter "D" of the water tank 220. In another embodiment, the length "L" of the water tank 220 is twice or more than the diameter "D" of the water tank 220. In yet another embodiment, the length "L" of the water tank 220 is 2.5 times or more the diameter "D" of the water tank 220. In yet another embodiment, the length “L” of the water tank 220 is three times or more the diameter “D” of the water tank 220. The inventors have discovered that horizontal placement of the sink 220 (e.g., with the longitudinal axis 268 parallel to the plane defined by the bottom plate 212) can increase the surface area of water in the sink 220, which results in Perpendicular to the plane defined by the bottom plate 212) more steam generation. Although the water tank 220 is described as being cylindrical, it should be understood that the water tank 220 may include other shapes.

In some embodiments, the water tank 220 may be a low-pressure boiler to generate water vapor. Liquid reducing agents (such as liquid water) are usually provided in low-pressure boilers. Alternatively, the water tank 220 may be a flash evaporator capable of converting liquid water into water vapor.

In some embodiments, the water and oxygen delivery device 200 may further include a vacuum pressure gauge 230, and the vacuum pressure gauge 230 may be disposed in the water tank 220 to measure the pressure in the water tank 220. The water and oxygen conveying device 200 may further include a liquid level sensor 235, and the liquid level sensor 235 may be disposed in the water tank 220 to measure the liquid level in the water tank 220.

The water and oxygen delivery device 200 may further include a flow control system 240 for controlling the flow of water vapor and the flow of oxygen-containing gas. The flow control system 240 may be disposed above the horizontal water tank 220 in the casing 210. In some embodiments, the flow control system 240 may include a first mass flow controller 242 to control the flow of water vapor from the water tank 220. The flow control system 240 may further include a second mass flow controller for controlling the flow of the oxygen-containing gas. The flow control system 240 may further include a water vapor MFC controller 246, and the water vapor MFC controller 246 may be disposed between the first mass flow controller 242 and the second mass flow controller 244. The water and oxygen delivery device 200 may include other components (eg, valves, MFC, etc.) to control the generation and flow of water vapor and oxygen, these components are not described for the sake of brevity. The device may further include an electronic controller 250 that controls and monitors water vapor generated from the water tank 220, a vacuum pressure gauge 230, a liquid level sensor 235, and a flow control system 240.

The electronic controller 250 may be, for example, a computer, a programmable logic controller, or an embedded controller. The electronic controller 250 may generally include a central processing unit (CPU) (not shown), a memory (not shown), and a support circuit (not shown) for input and output (I / O). The CPU can be one of any form of computer processor. The CPU can be used in industrial settings to control various system functions, substrate movements, chamber processes, and control supporting hardware (such as sensors, motors, heaters, etc.) And monitor the processes performed in the system. Memory can be connected to the CPU, and can be easily accessed by local or remote non-volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), floppy disk , Hard drive, or any other form of digital storage. Software instructions and data can be encoded and stored in memory to instruct the CPU. Support circuits can also be connected to the CPU to support the processor by conventional means. Supporting circuits may include caches, power supplies, clock circuits, input / output circuits, subsystems, and so on. Programs (or computer instructions) that can be read by the electronic controller 250 determine which tasks can be performed by components in the water and oxygen delivery device 200. The program may be software readable by the electronic controller 250, which may include code to perform tasks related to delivering oxygen and water vapor to the reduction system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method 300 for reducing effluent exiting a processing chamber. The method 300 begins at operation 310 by flowing an effluent from a processing chamber (such as processing chamber 110) into a plasma source (such as plasma source 130), where the effluent contains one or more F-gases. At operation 320, the method may further include: delivering at least one reducing agent to the plasma source, the reducing agent may include at least one of water vapor and an oxygen-containing gas. At operation 330, the method may further include: activating the effluent and the reducing agent in the presence of the plasma to convert one or more F-gases and the reducing agent in the effluent into the reduced material. In certain embodiments, at least some of the reducing agent and / or entrapped material in the effluent is at least partially disassociated. The target material in the effluent is converted to a reduced amount of material in the presence of a plasma, which includes a reduced amount of reagent formed in the plasma source. Material in the effluent may then leave the plasma source and flow into a vacuum source (such as vacuum source 190), and / or be further processed.

In an exemplary embodiment of the method disclosed herein, an effluent containing undesired materials leaves the processing chamber 110 and enters the plasma source 130. The effluent may include one or more F-gases, which may be a carbon-containing gas, a nitrogen-containing gas, or a sulfur-containing gas. In one embodiment, the one or more F-gases are gases selected from the group consisting of or consisting of: CF ₄ , CH ₃ F, CH ₂ F ₂ , CH ₄ , C ₂ F ₆ , C ₃ F ₈ , C ₄ F ₁₀ , CHF ₃ , SF ₆ and NF ₃ . A combination of the F-gases described above may be present in the effluent. In some embodiments, a separate flow rate of selected water vapor (eg, X sccm) and a separate flow rate of selected oxygen (eg, Y sccm) can be established and then a "balanced" flow rate can be applied The method varies the water vapor and oxygen between them to determine the water vapor and oxygen ratio. For example, the "lean water" configuration under "25% water vapor" can be equal to a mixture of 0.25 x X + 0.75 x Y, and the "lean oxygen" setting can be 0.75 x X + 0.25 x Y, and the "balanced mixture" can be 0.5 x X + 0.5 x Y. In one embodiment, the reducing agent, such as water vapor and oxygen entering the plasma source 130, may have a water vapor to oxygen flow ratio of at least 2.5: 1. Plasma can be generated from a reduced amount of reagent within the plasma source 130, thereby energizing the reduced amount of reagent, and in some embodiments, also imparting energy to the effluent. In certain embodiments, at least some of the reduced-reagent and / or entrapped material may be at least partially dissociated. The identity of the reduction reagent, the flow rate of the reduction reagent, the gas injection parameters of the foreline pipeline, and the plasma generation conditions can be determined according to the composition of the material entrained in the effluent, and can be controlled by the controller 180. In embodiments where the plasma source 130 is an inductively coupled plasma source, the dissociation may involve several kilowatts of power.

The method 300 may begin at operation 310 by flowing an effluent from a processing chamber into a plasma source, where the effluent includes one or more F-gases. An effluent containing a material (such as an F-gas compound) selected for reduction is fed into the plasma source 130. In one example, the exhaust gas may originate from the processing chamber 110 and be generated by performing any of a plurality of processes such as etching, deposition, cleaning, and the like. For example, the reagent gas may be injected into the foreline line 102 through the reagent delivery system 140 or the water and oxygen delivery equipment 200.

At operation 320, a reduced amount of reagent may be delivered to the plasma source. In one exemplary weight reduction process using water vapor (eg, H ₂ O) and O ₂ , water vapor and O ₂ from the reagent delivery system 140 may be flowed into the plasma source 130. In one embodiment, O ₂ and water vapor (H ₂ O) can be delivered simultaneously. The reducing agent may have a water vapor to oxygen flow ratio of at least 2.5: 1, such as a water vapor to oxygen flow ratio of at least 3: 1. In one embodiment, the water vapor to oxygen flow ratio is from about 3: 1 to about 10: 1. The reducing agent may further include a combination of gases to achieve a selected water vapor to oxygen flow ratio.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another processing system 400 according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The processing system 400 is similar to the processing system 100 except that the reduction system 120 of the processing system 100 is replaced by the reduction system 420. The reduction system 420 may include a reagent delivery system 440. The reagent delivery system 440 may include flow control devices 464a to 464d (collectively referred to as 464) to control the flow of oxygen-containing reagents into the foreline of the chamber. The flow control device 464 may be any suitable active or passive flow control device, such as a fixed orifice, a mass flow controller, a needle valve, and the like. An oxygen-containing reagent, such as O ₂ , may be delivered by an oxygen-containing reagent source 470. When the reduced effluent contains, for example, CF ₄ and / or other materials, O ₂ may be used.

As shown in FIG. 4, the processing system 400 may include one or more processing chambers 410, which may be coupled to the reduction system 420. The processing chamber (s) 410 has a chamber drain port 104 that can be coupled to the foreline line 102 of the reduction system 120. A throttle (not shown) may be placed near the chamber exhaust port 104 to control the pressure in the processing chamber (s) 410. A first injection port 106 and a second injection port 108 may be formed in the foreline pipeline 102. The reduction system 420 may further include a vacuum source 190, which may be coupled to the second end of the foreline line 102. The plasma source 130 may be coupled between the first injection port 106 and the vacuum source 190 in the foreline line 102.

The reagent delivery system 440 may deliver one or more oxygen-containing reagents to the foreline line 102 upstream of the plasma source 130. In an alternative embodiment, the reagent delivery system 440 may be directly coupled to the plasma source 130 to directly deliver the oxygen-containing reagent into the plasma source 130. The reagent delivery system 440 may be coupled to an oxygen-containing reagent source 470, which is coupled to the flow control devices 464a to 464d. Each of the flow control devices 464a to 464d can be coupled to a foreline line or a plasma source, such as the foreline line 102 (or the plasma source 130) through the first conduits 422a to 422d (collectively referred to as 422). The reagent delivery system 440 may also be coupled to the first injection port 106 through the first conduit 422d. It should be understood that each of the first conduits 422a to 422d may be individually coupled to an individual processing system to deliver oxygen to a foreline line of an individual processing chamber. For example, the reagent delivery system 440 may include four independent flow control devices 464a to 464d (collectively referred to as 464) that are each capable of delivering oxygen to a separate processing chamber.

The oxygen-containing reagent source 470 may be coupled to the flow control devices 464a to 464d through the third conduit 458. One or more valves 459 and / or pressure regulators 460 may be positioned along the third conduit 458 to control the flow of oxygen from the oxygenated reagent source 470 to the reagent delivery system 440. The pressure regulator 460 may be used to measure and control the pressure downstream of the flow control device 464. Each pressure regulator can be coupled to a pressure gauge (not shown) to measure the pressure. The measured pressure can be used by a control device (such as the controller 180 discussed below) to set the flow rate by controlling the pressure regulator 460 The pressure upstream of the control device 464.

One or more valves may be disposed along the respective first conduits 422a to 422d between the flow control devices 464a to 464d and the first injection port (eg, the first injection port 106). For example, in some embodiments, the valve architecture may include two-way control valves 452a to 452d (collectively referred to as 452) and / or pressure regulators 454a to 454d (collectively referred to as 454), which may serve as on / off A switch for controlling the flow from the oxygen-containing reagent source 470 into the foreline line 102. The flow control device 464 may be provided upstream of the two-way control valve 452 and the foreline line 102. The two-way control valve 452 may be any suitable control valve, such as a solenoid valve, a pneumatic valve, a needle valve, and the like. The flow control device 454 may be any suitable active or passive flow control device, such as a fixed orifice, a mass flow controller, a needle valve, and the like.

In another embodiment, the processing system 400 may further include a water vapor delivery system 480 that is coupled to the reduction system 420. In one embodiment, the water vapor delivery system 480 may be coupled to the reduction system 420 through a conduit 482. As shown in FIG. 4, in one embodiment, the water vapor delivery system 480 may be coupled to the foreline line 102. The water vapor delivery system 480 may be coupled to the foreline line 102 through an injection port 484. In operation, the water vapor transmission system 480 can transport water vapor into the foreline line 102, and the water vapor can be combined with the oxygen-containing gas transported from the reagent transportation system 440 to form a reduced amount of reagent. The effluent and the reducing agent can then be activated in the presence of a plasma to convert one or more F-gases and the reducing agent in the effluent to a reduced material. Therefore, the processing system 400 of FIG. 4 can be used to create processing conditions similar to the processing conditions of FIG. 1. However, the reagent delivery system 440 can be retrofitted in combination with existing water delivery systems (such as the water vapor delivery system 480) to use existing water delivery systems for water vapor delivery and to add both water and oxygen from individual modules to the inlet .

For the sake of brevity, the embodiment of FIG. 4 is shown in outline, and some components are omitted. For example, a high-speed vacuum pump (such as a turbo molecular pump) may be disposed between the processing chamber 110 and the foreline line 102 to remove effluent gas from the processing chamber 110. In addition, other variants of the component are available to supply foreline gas, reagents and / or plasma.

The previously described embodiments have many advantages. For example, the techniques disclosed herein can convert volatile, toxic, and / or explosive effluents into more benign chemicals that can be safely processed. Plasma reduction is beneficial to human health in terms of acute exposure of workers to effluents and the conversion of pyrophoric or toxic materials to more environmentally friendly and stable materials. By avoiding the generation of particles and / or other corrosive materials from the effluent stream, the plasma reduction process also protects semiconductor processing equipment (such as, for example, a vacuum pump) from excessive wear and premature failure of the semiconductor processing equipment. In addition, the implementation of weight reduction technology on the vacuum foreline adds additional safety to workers and equipment. If equipment leakage occurs during the reduction process, the low pressure of the effluent relative to the external environment can prevent the effluent from escaping from the reduction equipment. In addition, many of the reducing agents disclosed herein are low cost and versatile. For example, both water vapor (eg, H ₂ O) and O ₂ for reduction of F-gas are versatile and low cost. The advantages described above are illustrative rather than limiting. Not all embodiments need to have all the advantages described.

In summary, certain benefits of certain embodiments described herein include a combined water and oxygen delivery system that can simultaneously or sequentially provide water vapor and oxygen in a plasma reduction system. In certain embodiments, a combined water and oxygen delivery system provides a cost-effective way to reduce the high global warming potential of gaseous chemicals used in semiconductor processing (the gaseous chemicals include F-gases such as PFCs and SF ₆ )). In some embodiments, a combined water and oxygen delivery system can optimize fluorinated greenhouse gas reductions while producing minimal solid and undesired gaseous by-products that use only water vapor or only Oxygen is produced. In addition, in certain embodiments described herein, a combined water and oxygen delivery system provides a plasma reduction scheme prior to extraction that can use less energy by processing the actual process gas volume (the actual The process gas volume is smaller than the volume normally processed by the reduction system after extraction). Further, the combined water and oxygen delivery system described herein can be installed within the pump footprint of currently available semiconductor processing chambers.

When introducing the elements or exemplary aspects of this disclosure or the embodiment (s) thereof, the articles "a, an", "the" and "said" are intended to indicate the existence of an or A plurality of said elements.

The terms "comprising", "including" and "having" are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.

Although the above relates to the embodiments of the disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure can be derived without departing from the basic scope of the disclosure, and the scope of the disclosure is determined by the scope of the accompanying patent application.

100‧‧‧treatment system

102‧‧‧ Foreline

104‧‧‧chamber discharge port

106, 108‧‧‧ injection port

110‧‧‧Processing chamber

120‧‧‧Reduction system

122, 124‧‧‧ catheter

130‧‧‧ Plasma source

140‧‧‧ reagent delivery system

150‧‧‧ the first reagent source

151‧‧‧heater

152‧‧‧Two-way control valve

153‧‧‧heater

154‧‧‧Flow control device

156‧‧‧Water source

158‧‧‧Third catheter

159‧‧‧valve

160‧‧‧Second reagent source

162‧‧‧Two-way control valve

164‧‧‧Flow control device

170‧‧‧Gas injection kit

172‧‧‧Gas source

174‧‧‧pressure regulator

176‧‧‧Control Valve

178‧‧‧Flow control device

179‧‧‧ pressure gauge

180‧‧‧ Controller

190‧‧‧Vacuum source

192‧‧‧Discharge pipeline

200‧‧‧ Water and oxygen delivery equipment

210‧‧‧shell

212‧‧‧ floor

214a, 214b‧‧‧ sidewall

216‧‧‧closed area

218‧‧‧Inner wall

220‧‧‧Sink

230‧‧‧Vacuum pressure gauge

235‧‧‧ level sensor

240‧‧‧flow control system

242, 244‧‧‧‧mass flow controller

246‧‧‧Water vapor MFC controller

250‧‧‧Electronic controller

260‧‧‧ cylindrical body

264, 266‧‧‧wall

268‧‧‧Vertical axis

300‧‧‧ Method

310 ~ 330‧‧‧ Operation

400‧‧‧treatment system

410‧‧‧Processing chamber

420‧‧‧Reduction system

440‧‧‧ reagent delivery system

422a ~ 422d‧‧‧First duct

452a ~ 452d‧‧‧Two-way control valve

454a ~ 454d‧‧‧pressure regulator

458‧‧‧Third catheter

459‧‧‧valve

460‧‧‧pressure regulator

464a ~ 464d‧‧‧Flow control device

470‧‧‧ oxygen source

480‧‧‧Water vapor delivery system

482‧‧‧catheter

484‧‧‧ injection port

The above features of this document can be understood in detail by referring to the embodiments, which have been briefly summarized previously, and some of these embodiments are shown in the drawings. It should be noted, however, that the drawings show only typical embodiments of this disclosure, and therefore the drawings should not be considered as limiting the scope of this disclosure, as the disclosure may allow other equivalent embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a processing system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 is a partial perspective view of a water and oxygen delivery device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for reducing effluent exiting a processing chamber; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another processing system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, use the same element symbols whenever possible to indicate the same elements that are common to the drawings. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.

Domestic hosting information (please note in order of hosting institution, date, and number) None

Information on foreign deposits (please note in order of deposit country, institution, date, and number) None

Claims (20)

A water and oxygen delivery system for a plasma reduction system. The water and oxygen delivery system includes: a casing including a bottom plate and a plurality of side walls, the bottom plate and the plurality of side walls defining an enclosed area; A cylindrical water tank disposed on the bottom plate, wherein a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical water tank is parallel to a plane defined by the bottom plate, and the length of the water tank is 1.5 times or more than the diameter of the cylindrical water tank; and A flow control system is disposed above the cylindrical water tank in the casing. The water and oxygen delivery system according to claim 1, wherein the flow control system comprises: an oxygen mass flow controller; and a water vapor mass flow controller. The water and oxygen delivery system according to claim 1, wherein the water tank is a low-pressure boiler for generating water vapor. The water and oxygen delivery system according to claim 3, wherein the cylindrical water tank comprises: a cylindrical side wall; a first circular wall; and an opposite second circular wall, wherein the cylindrical shape The side wall, the first circular wall and the second circular wall define a closed area. The water and oxygen delivery system according to claim 4, further comprising: a liquid level sensor disposed in the water tank to measure a liquid level in the water tank. The water and oxygen delivery system according to claim 5, further comprising: a vacuum pressure gauge installed in the water tank to measure the pressure in the water tank. The water and oxygen delivery system according to claim 6, further comprising: an electronic controller disposed in the housing to control and monitor water vapor generated from the water tank, the vacuum pressure gauge, and the level sensor Detector and the flow control system. A weight-reduction system includes: a water and oxygen delivery system including: a casing including a bottom plate and a plurality of side walls, the bottom plate and the plurality of side walls defining a closed area; a cylindrical sink disposed on the bottom plate, A longitudinal axis of the cylindrical water tank is parallel to a plane defined by the bottom plate, and the length of the water tank is 1.5 times or more than the diameter of the cylindrical water tank; and a flow control system is disposed in the housing. Above the cylindrical water tank; and a plasma source, coupled to the water and oxygen delivery system through a conduit. The reduction system according to claim 8, wherein the flow control system comprises: an oxygen mass flow controller; and a water vapor mass flow controller. The reduction system according to claim 8, wherein the water tank is a low-pressure boiler for generating water vapor. The reduction system according to claim 8, wherein the cylindrical sink includes: a cylindrical side wall; a first round wall; and an opposite second round wall, wherein the cylindrical side wall and the first round shape The wall and the second circular wall define a closed area. The weight reduction system according to claim 11, further comprising: a liquid level sensor disposed in the water tank to measure a liquid level in the water tank. The weight reduction system according to claim 12, further comprising: a vacuum pressure gauge disposed in the water tank to measure the pressure in the water tank. The weight reduction system according to claim 13, further comprising: an electronic controller disposed in the housing to control and monitor water vapor generated from the water tank, the vacuum pressure gauge, the liquid level sensor, and The flow control system. A vacuum processing system includes: a processing chamber; a vacuum source; a foreline that couples the processing chamber with the vacuum source; and a reduction system that is coupled to the foreline via a conduit Then, the weight reduction system includes: a water and oxygen delivery system, including: a casing including a bottom plate and a plurality of side walls, the bottom plate and the plurality of side walls defining an enclosed area; a cylindrical sink disposed on the bottom plate Above, wherein a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical water tank is parallel to a plane defined by the bottom plate, and the length of the water tank is 1.5 times or more the diameter of the cylindrical water tank; and a flow control system is disposed in the shell Above the cylindrical water tank in the body; and a plasma source coupled to the water and oxygen delivery system through a conduit. The vacuum processing system according to claim 15, wherein the flow control system comprises: an oxygen mass flow controller; and a water vapor mass flow controller. The vacuum processing system according to claim 15, wherein the water tank is a low-pressure boiler for generating water vapor. The vacuum processing system according to claim 15, wherein the cylindrical sink includes: a cylindrical side wall; a first circular wall; and an opposite second circular wall, wherein the cylindrical side wall and the first circle The profile wall and the second round profile wall define a closed area. The vacuum processing system according to claim 18, further comprising: a liquid level sensor disposed in the water tank to measure a liquid level in the water tank. The vacuum processing system according to claim 19, further comprising: a vacuum pressure gauge disposed in the water tank to measure the pressure in the water tank.